University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Athletics

              It’s been said many times that it is better to give than to receive.  In just two seasons, Mr. Emanuel “Book” Richardson, who currently serves as an assistant coach under Sean Miller at the University of Arizona, took that to heart on the basketball court on his way to setting the Pitt-Johnstown career assist record, leading NCAA Division II in assists per game in 1996-97, and guiding the Mountain Cat program to its first two NCAA Tournament appearances.
               A native of the Bronx, NY, Mr. Richardson joined Head Coach Bob Rukavina’s Mountain Cat squad for the 1996-97 season after spending two years at his hometown Monroe College.  In that magical season, Mr. Richardson’s great passing and ball-handling skills led Pitt-Johnstown to its first NCAA Regional Tournament appearance.  In the process, his 8.7 assists per game led the nation.
               Mr. Richardson kept it up the following season.  He dished out a school-record 260 assists, including 17 against Edinboro University on February 15, 1998, a record that still stands today, and helped the Mountain Cats to a second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth with a program-best 24 victories.
               In his two seasons at Pitt-Johnstown, Mr. Richardson guided the Mountain Cats to a 55-11 overall record (.883 winning percentage) and a pair of post-season appearances.  When it was all said and done, Mr. Richardson’s 495 assists stood atop of the Mountain Cat record books until 2009.  He still holds program records for career assist average (8.8 apg.), assists in a season (260), and assists in a game (17).  He is currently third on the all-time assists list.
               After graduating with a degree in Business Marketing and Management in 1998, he began his coaching career as an assistant under Coach Rukavina for the 1998-99 season.  From there, Mr. Richardson’s coaching career began to take off.
               Mr. Richardson then spent three seasons as an assistant at Monroe College, an NJCAA program in the Bronx, before joining Marist (NY) College’s staff for the 2004-05 campaign.
               From 2005-07, Mr. Richardson returned to the Bronx as the Director of Basketball for the New York Gauchos/Teamwork Foundation.  Richardson’s U-18 red team captured the gold medal at the 2007 USA Basketball Men’s Youth Development Festival, making him the youngest coach ever to win the event, and the first AAU coach to be selected by USA Basketball as a festival head coach.
               Mr. Richardson spent two seasons at Xavier (OH) University (2007-09) under Coach Miller, helping guide the Musketeers to 57 wins, two conference titles and a pair of deep NCAA Tournament runs.  In 2007-08, Xavier posted a school-record 30 wins and advanced to the Elite Eight.
               Following the 2008-09 season, Mr. Richardson accompanied Coach Miller to Tucson and joined the Arizona basketball staff in the spring of 2009, where he has established himself as one of the finest recruiters in college basketball.
His efforts in building and strengthening Arizona’s recruiting ties across the country have helped the Wildcats land a top-10 recruiting class in 2011 and back-to-back top-five classes in 2012 and 2013.
               Mr. Richardson and his wife, Erin, have three children, daughters Chassidy, Sere, Channel and son E.J.
               “To be inducted into any Hall of Fame is an incredible honor, but to be inducted into my University’s Hall of Fame is a dream come true, thank you God,” Mr. Richardson said.  “Of course none of this would be possible without my parents, biological and the ones that I’ve picked up through life.  Thanks to my biological mom Sylvia Daniels and my surrogate moms Donna Vickroy and Ms. Betty Mae Lewis.  Thank you to my dads Gary Decesare, Bob Rukavina, and Ron Vickroy!  I would also love to thank my loving and supporting wife Erin for showing me what true hard work, love, and dedication is.  Actually thank you to all the people that I mentioned for showing me how to be a good human being!  Thank you to Pitt-Johnstown for helping me grow up, and thank you for allowing me to always be a Mountain Cat!”